The Upside of Lincecum’s Clunker

He couldn’t keep the fastball down. His curveball had no bite. He threw maybe one vintage changeup. It was fascinating to watch a nervous Tim Lincecum at work in the All-Star game, for it was one of the very few times he has felt that way since joining the Giants. Cause for concern? Can’t see how. He probably learned some valuable lessons about preparation and anxiety when the stakes are high. Lessons he’ll remember when he pitches his first really important stretch-drive game for the Giants . . . The real Lincecum, as described by Milwaukee slugger Ryan Braun before the game: “He’s the one guy who really stands out most among the good young pitchers today. It’s a battle when you face hm. The fact that he commands three excellent pitches is what makes him so tough. Whatever you want to call his third pitch is as good as the first.” . . . If you’re Fox Sports, it’s almost impossible to mess up the shot of President Obama throwing out the first pitch — but somehow, they managed, showing his toss from an absurd side angle. You couldn’t even see who was catching the ball (Albert Pujols), let alone how it looked. Finally, in the second inning, we got the center-field camera replay of the pitch (straight and soft, an easy short-hop grab for Pujols) . . . A much better performance by Fox: capturing Obama’s priceless exchanges with players in the clubhouses before the game . . . Interesting Joe Buck interpretation of Jason Bay‘s single to center, just to the left side of second base: “Lined into right field.” . . . “And here’s Suzuki,” Buck said at one point. No. There is no Suzuki. It’s Ichiro, every time, any setting, whatever the context . . . L.A. Times writer Bill Shaikin issued a plea for the Dodgers to get Roy Halladay from Toronto and take a shot at its first World Series since 1988. To kick-start the trade package, he suggests catcher Russell Martin (a native of Canada) and two of the Dodgers’ top 2008 draft picks, shortstop Devaris Gordon and right-handed pitcher Josh Lindblom. “The Dodgers might never be closer to winning it all with this group than they are right now,” Shaikin wrote. “They are an ace away.” . . . Nobody had more richly deserved All-Star exposure than Bay, whose stirring performances and cluhouse demeanor have made Red Sox fans forget (well, mostly) Manny Ramirez. The Red Sox need to work on Bay and his agent, with free agentry coming up this fall. A native of British Columbia, Bay lives in Seattle and says he’d take a serious look at the Mariners, but the Red Sox have to keep him . . . Thanks to Bay, incidentally, for ridiculing the notion of a “contract year” — as in, whoa, I’d better play hard so I can cash in. “I don’t even know what means,” he says. “Does it mean because I want more money I’m going to play better? I’m going to hit 60 home runs? I’m the same guy in the Boston market as I was in the Pittsburgh market.”

The simple fact about the World Series home-field advantage — and all postseason series, for that matter — is that it should be given to the team with the best regular-season record. For many years, MLB cited conflicts with NFL Sundays as a potential problem, but that’s barely an issue any longer. With so many new baseball stadiums in place, and Minnesota opening one next year, the only MLB cities sharing stadiums with the NFL will be Oakland and Miami (where a new stadium is targeted for 2012). Even at that, the NFL could always schedule division-rivalry games in October (making stadium switches an easy prospect) for the cities in question. No, this is all about Bud Selig‘s hotel accommodations, when you come down to it. I covered 21 straight World Series for the Chronicle, and I understand the logistics problem. It’s nice to make your hotel reservations months in advance, covering all the possibilities, and it becomes a nightmare if the contenders in both leagues are involved. If you don’t know who’s hosting Game 1 until the last minute, it’s hard to find hotel space at all, let alone set up a headquarters hotel for MLB and its assortment of cronies. They’d find a way, though. It happens in other sports. Big money always speaks volumes . . . Fortunately for baseball, the leagues have split the six World Series under this format, none of them going the distance. Wait until a seventh game comes around. Then we’ll recall the words of the Rangers’ Michael Young: “Home-field advantage in the World Series is a big deal. It’s something that should be earned. Say you’re in the World Series. You could have a guy who’s a huge part of your team who wasn’t an All-Star. Now he has to spend three games at home instead of four because of a game he wasn’t even in?” . . . Good call by Selig when reporters brought up the tired subject of collusion (teams allegedly agreeing not to sign Barry Bonds or other suspect characters): “Given the world we live in and what’s happened in the last 18 months, I think this is one sport where I can’t even fathom that anybody could think that.”

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THE PRESS BOX

Buster Olney on espn.com: “Face it, Pablo Sandoval doesn’t look the part. None of the Giants do, actually. Tim Lincecum is too small and Randy Johnson is too old and Bengie Molina is too heavy and Aaron Rowand is too beaten up and the whole lineup is offensively challenged. The Giants may or may not hold on to win a playoff spot, but they are a fascinating circus act that would be incredibly dangerous in a short series in October.”